Once Upon A Time
by Saulzy
Summary: Chloe's Left Smallville and moved to Metropolis. Lex has left the country. 3 years later they meet once again, both scared of the same thing that caused them to run away. Will love triumph? Or are happy endings only found in fairy tales? CHLEX!
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Chloe's Left Smallville and moved to Metropolis. Lex has left the country and moved to Europe. 3 years later they meet once again, both scared of the same thing that caused them to run away. Will love triumph? Or are happy endings only found in Fairy tales? Chlex...Once Upon a Time.

**A/N - This is my first fan fic, but I've read a ton so hopefully this is good. I LOVE Chlex, and unfortunately, I've read almost every chlex fan fic on so it's high time I write one. Please Review; add to your story alerts if I should continue this story. If people read it I'll keep writing. But its just an idea I thought up today :) Enjoy!**

Disclaimer: I don't own Smallville...because if I did, Chloe and Lex would have ended up together.

**Chapter 1: Where is the Love?**

Romance. It's dead. And people say that chivalry has been long gone. When is the last time making love meant having to be in love? Well it sure as heck didn't mean that now. Once upon a time I believed in true love, but then who was I kidding? This is the real world. And sometimes, the real world kinda sucks. All of this was running through my head as I sat at my desk at the Daily Planet, sipping my coffee, wondering where I went wrong with love. My first and latest "lover" Jimmy Olsen stood by the printers casually throwing timidly sweet, flirty smiles my way.  
>"Oh God…" I thought, "What did I do to deserve this." I swiveled my chair around and tried to focus on my latest work assignment, Luthor's return to Smallville. I had sent someone out to the LexCorp plants and the Luthor mansion earlier, trying to avoid the trip myself. I had finally gotten out of the small freaky town when I had turned 19, 3 years ago when I all but ran to metropolis, and I had no intention of returning to the weirdest place on earth anytime soon. Any trace of "home" I once had there had vanished anyway.<p>

"_I'll miss you…" he whispered callously. As if it wasn't hard enough to just leave. Now he was being sentimental._

"_Well, if you try really hard, maybe you won't. You have a knack for not caring about things Lex, why change now." My voice dripped with sarcasm. I was mad. I wasn't going to let him keep me here anymore. I was starting to feel bad though. I could tell what I said hurt when I could see him visibly stiffen slightly at my retort._

"_Chloe, if you want to leave I'm not holding you back. I would never hold you back in this hell hole." I looked up abruptly to say something but he continued, "In fact, you should leave! I've been telling you for years there is nothing left for you here! Not Clark! He has Lana! You're parents are dead! You're not in love, there is nothing tying you down!" his voice had escalated._

_I just stood there a little shocked at his tirade. "FINE!" I yelled at him. "You're right. There is NOTHING here for me. Nothing at all." I turned quickly before he could see the tears that were threatening to fall. I had just reached the door when I froze. Afraid of what this all meant. If I walked out this door, that was it. No Lex to run back to…which meant…no more home to run back to._

"_Goodbye Lex." I whispered without turning around. And I fled._

"Chloe?" I jumped a bit at Jimmy's voice so close. "Y-yes?" I asked pasting on a smile and grimacing on the inside.

"I was thinking, would you, I don't know maybe want to go out to dinner tonight? I got reservations for us at a restaurant downtown." He gushed out nervously. I barely refrained from rolling my eyes. Instead I went for a sweet smile as I grabbed his hand.

"Jimmy, hun, we are dating, you don't have act all nervous every time you ask me out." I crooned.

He looked down and blushed. "I know," he answered, "But I can't help it, you're just so beautiful. Makes me nervous."

This time I let the eye roll slip. Thank God he was still looking down.

"Haha," I let out a flirty giggle. "Jimmy I love you," LIES. "You make me so happy," MORE LIES, "and I would absolutely love to go out with you tonight." WHY CAN'T I STOP LYING! "…but, I uh have some things I have to go over with the reporter I sent to go check on the Luthor story." Okay, so kind of true.

He looked a little hurt but didn't miss a beat, "isn't your cousin Lois on that case?"

"Urmm, yeah, she was the only one I trusted enough to not try to bed Luthor while down there." I said jokingly. He didn't laugh.

"Is there a reason you didn't go yourself?" he asked curiously.

I shook my head slowly, trying to find a reasonable excuse for not going, preferably one close to the actual truth, "I have been really busy here, and I wanted to focus my energy on writing the story and I can write a majority of it from right here. Plus I knew if I went back to visit the 'ole home town, I would have a hard time staying focused…so I sent Lois because she was headed down there anyway to visit a friend." I explained slowly.

He seemed to accept it. It's not like it wasn't true. It was all true. But there might have been something I, intentionally left out.

"Okay well if you want anything-"

"-I'll call you, I know." I smiled up at him before going back to my computer typing away. He rolled his eyes and waved goodbye before heading to the elevator ready to go back to his lonely apartment without his loving girlfriend.

I can't help but feel guilty sometimes. Okay all the time. I never thought that Jimmy Olsen would be my first. And I never thought that 4 years after it happened, we would both have ended up working at the same paper. I called it Karma, he called it destiny, and according to destiny, this meant my first "love" was meant to be my eternal. I felt bad, so I went out with him. And yeah it felt good! I hadn't been out for months since I had moved to metropolis. I was lonely. He was an old…friend. But of course the boy had other ideas. He knew I wanted romance. So he gave me romance. He knew I wanted chivalry, so he gave me chivalry. Was it possible though, that he wasn't the one? I laughed at myself. How could I possibly believe true love existed. How could I, Chloe Anne Sullivan the cynic of cynics, the realist of realists, possibly believe that soul mates and happy endings could possibly happen to me? Oh that's right, because I wanted them….so badly.

I sighed. Staring down at my computer, there wasn't more I could write regarding the story without meeting with Lois first. At least it meant getting out of dinner with Jimmy. "Jimmy" I whispered with my eyes closed. "I'm so sorry." This couldn't go on. The lies were killing me. It was time to stop it before it went too far. I briefly proof read the introduction for the story.

**Lex Luthor Returns to Smallville**

LexCorp has announced its intention to return to the small city of Smallville, Kansas, home to the young billionaire Lex Luthor. After residing in Europe for the last 2 and a half years Mr. Luthor had decided that his business interests will be bringing him back to Kansas. The plants in smallville are scheduled to reopen sometime in the next month. Jobs will be offered first to veteran employs and secondly to any new workers seeking employment at LexCorp. While residing primarily in his Smallville Mansion, It has been confirmed that he will be returning to Metropolis to reopen his offices for business.

She sighed checking her watch. "Crap, I gotta meet Lois," she muttered as she hurriedly stood, gathered the things on her desk, grabbed her flash drive and quickly departed from the Daily Planet. She stopped when she got outside and it finally hit her so hard that she gasped for breath.

Lex was coming home.

A/N - Review for the next update!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer – I don't own smallville! Though I wish I could continue the series so it would never have to end.

A/N – Okay just for a little clarification, this is kind of AU. I wrote this based on how I wanted smallville to be for the story so some of the events don't line up with the show. For example, in my story Lana and Lex only dated for a short time before she ran back to Clark. There is no real timeline except for what is offered in the story. It's been 3 years since Chloe has last seen Lex.

There are a lot of flashbacks in my story. They are all in italics.

Sorry it took so long to update. Review for quicker updates!

**(There is a song in this chapter! I would suggest listening to it, while reading. It offers a little insight into Lex's mind and we all want into that. **_**Ray LaMontagne - Let It Be Me)**_

**Chapter 2: Let it Be Me**

"_Guess what my daddy told me Chloe!" 9 year old Lana asked as she bounced around her best friend. _

"_What?" Chloe asked curiously. She took her attention off of little Clark Kent who was running around the playground with the other boys and finally looked at Lana._

"_He told me, I'm a princess." She giggled and danced around curtsying._

"…_why do you want to be a princess?" Chloe asked perplexed. Princesses always had to be rescued._

_Lana stopped her dancing immediately and stared at Chloe with her jaw dropped._

"_Why wouldn't you want to be a princess Chloe! One day you'll meet a prince, he'll sweep you off your feet! And then – "_

"_Let me guess, you live happily ever after?" she smirked with her hands on her hips. Her parents often joked that ever since she was a baby, she mastered the smirk of a professional which she wore proudly. _

"_CHLOE." Lana huffed as she grabbed the hands of her best friend. "Don't you want a prince?" _

_Chloe snuck a look back over to the playground where Clark stood with his friends. Just at that moment he looked over and smiled at them. "HI LANA!" he yelled while waving wildly. Lana giggled and gave a small wave back. _

"_...Yes" Chloe whispered. But instead of letting herself get upset over the young farm boy once again, she threw her shoulders back and marched off as she yelled back at Lana, "But fairy tales don't exist Lana! This is the REAL world!"_

_Lana barely heard her as Clark came to take her place. As she trudged over to the swings, Chloe chanced a look behind her and what she saw made her want to cry. Clark was supposed to be her best friend, but he would never be her prince._

"_Someday…My prince will find me. if he even exists. But I'm not going to waste any more time chasing after him." She promised herself._

"Chloe?" Lois noticed that her cousin had her blonde little head somewhere else at the moment, because she obviously wasn't listening to her. "Chloe!" She included a kick under the table to help jog her from wherever she was in la la land.

"Ow! Lois! What?" Chloe rubbed her shin annoyed.

"As I was saying, Now that Clark has proposed to Lana, she has turned into bridezilla! She wants this wedding to be perfect. And when she heard baldy was in town she got all upset. Like she thought he was going to be the one to object of her marrying Clark at her wedding." Lois laughed and rolled her eyes.

"No," thought Chloe, "6 years ago that would have been me begging him not to marry her."

Lois frowned, "Earth to chloe! Do you feel like, I don't know talking out loud? To a person who actually exists?"

"Sorry Lois. I was thinking."

"No duh…what is up with you tonight cuz? The last time I saw you this dazed was before you decided to leave smallville. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine!" Chloe answered to quickly, leaving Lana suspicious. "Really Lois. I'm fine. Anyway what were you saying? Clark? Proposal? Bridezilla and her fear of return of the baldy?" she tried to joke.

"Yeahhh anyway, baldy hasn't even made an appearance yet outside of his mansion. Besides they dated like what, 2 weeks? Then she went running back to Clark? And that was…I don't know…6…7 years ago? I'm sure he totally cares about her love life now."

"mhm," Chloe replied while sipping at her coffee trying to look interested. "Speaking of Baldy," she started, trying to change the subject from Clark and Lana in their little fairy tale world, "Got anything for my story? My editor wants this done ASAP."

Lois shook her head, "Not much to report. He flew in; drove to the mansion, anddddd hasn't come out. Guess he didn't want his return to be anything news worthy. No speeches, no press, nothing. He's just…back."

Chloe sat silently. He's back. Why? WHY did he come back? That was the answer she really wanted. That was why she sent Lois to smallville. Sure her editor wanted the story, but this was more personal than work. He couldn't have just come back for business. She had been following his business in Europe and he was doing better there than he had while stuck in the rinky dinky town of Smallville. There had to be another reason. She remembered the day she found out he left.

"_Sullivan," her editor barked as he walked by her desk with a donut in one hand and a piece of paper in the other, "you knew Luthor didn't you,"_

"_Uh, well uh yes, sir. I did." She answered frazzled. Why was he asking about Lex?_

"_Good. I put an intern on the Luthor's speech today. Proof read her story will you? Then have it on my desk by 5." He placed the piece of paper on my desk and then walked off before she could question what he meant. _

"_Departure? What departure?" I thought out loud. It was my second week on the job and I was still catching up on the buzz that seemed to fill the city of Metropolis. _

"_Oh are you referring to the Luthor departure?" I looked up to see Jimmy Olsen, the Daily Planet Photographer…and old high school fling. _

"_Jimmy? I didn't know you moved to Metropolis!" Fancy running into him. Here. The news world was always my world…his was…well something else. Only fate would have our lives meet at this ironic location._

"_Yeah," he smiled, "I moved here right after high school. Got an internship and now I work here part time as a photographer. You know me, always liked to snap pictures!" He laughed. No I didn't remember. _

"_Hmmm well that's, nice. So you seem to know something about this Luthor departure?" I asked anxiously._

"_Oh yeah, Mr. Luthor announced it today. I was out there to grab a picture, heard the whole thing. He's moving to, Europe? Business stuff. You know the usual thing with these corporate giants. They need a bigger playing field! He leaves tomorrow."_

_Lex, was leaving? "Oh." I was speechless._

"_Yeah. Good riddens to him. Not many people liked him anyway."_

"_Yeah, I guess you could say that." I frowned. "Well, thanks for the information. Jimmy."_

_He flashed his geeky smile, "Yeah no problem Chloe. It was nice catching up with you. We should do it again soon." He gave a lazy wave as he went down the hallway to the dark room to develop his pictures._

_I looked down at the paper in my shaky hands as I began to read. _

_Luthor makes his departure tomorrow to Europe…_

_My eyes grew hazy as they slowly filled with tears. Pushing back my chair, I walked swiftly to the bathroom. Once in there I locked the door, walked over to the sink and braced the sides with my hands till my knuckles grew white, willing myself not to cry. _

"_No," I whispered. "Don't Leave me." I could no longer hold it in. I cried. I cried for him. I cried for myself. But most of all I cried, because I felt alone. _

Lois noticed her cousin sitting across from her, hugging her arms and looking off into the distance with a look on her face that screamed sadness.

She abruptly stood up, grabbed Chloe by the hand and yanked her up and out of her chair. "Come on Chloe," she commanded.

"Lois! Where are we going?"

Lois sighed, "To a club," she looked at her cousin and shook her head in disapproval. "You need to get drunk Hun."

* * *

><p>"If the music gets any louder my ears are gonna bleed." Chloe complained loudly to Lois who was currently flirting with a tall blonde and not paying any attention to her cousin. The only thing helping (or maybe it was hurting?) her headache was the alcohol. Chloe winced as she downed her 4th shot and slowly got up and made her way to the dance floor. She closed her eyes, trying to lose herself in the beat.<p>

"Hey chlo-" When Lois finally turned around, she noticed Chloe had left her seat at the bar and quickly scanned the sea of people dancing and grinding to the music trying to spot her cousin among the crowd. Her eyes finally landed on the blonde. Dancing by herself in her own little world. Most likely already drunk.

"Tasteful Sullivan. Tasteful" Lois muttered as she shook her head. She noticed the blonde she had been talking to her earlier was eyeing her from across the bar. "I guess it won't hurt to have some fun."

Chloe eyes were tightly shut. Her mind having no control of her body. She loved the feeling.

"_Chloe?"_

_She gasped as she spun around. "Lex!" she had been so preoccupied…trying to be preoccupied, she didn't even hear him enter the torch office. "What are you doing here?" she asked, still fighting to hold back the tears that had been threatening to fall only moments ago._

"_Are you okay?" he asked tentatively, choosing to ignore her question. _

_Normally Chloe would have held her head high and acted as if nothing was wrong. Tears were a sign of weakness, and there was no way she was going to let anyone see her when she was like this. But then she remembered the safe house…and how Lex made her feel safe…and how right now she didn't feel safe. And here he was, trying to help. _

"_No," She answered simply, finally meeting his eyes. He could detect hurt, betrayal even. Something was wrong and he had a feeling it had something to do with the farm boy. _

"_Chloe it's the night of your senior prom. You should be dancing in the gymnasium not hiding out in here." _

"_I-I, just...I didn't feel like going." _

_He frowned. "Why not?" she looked down just as the situation dawned on him. "Lana. He asked Lana." It was more of a statement then a question. He felt a sudden urge to punch Clark in the face for his impudence. Although if Chloe had asked him why he cared, he wasn't exactly sure what the answer was. Ever since his father's trial he had felt very protective of Chloe and he hated that Clark continued to hurt her so frequently and carelessly. _

"_Yeah," she squeaked in reply. The tears were threatening to fall again. _

_He sighed. "Chloe," he said as he walked toward her. He lifted her chin with his index finger and gazed down into her eyes, "You don't need him to be happy." _

_She stood captivated by his gaze. "I know," he smirked at her lie, but she continued before he could argue, "But it would be nice to have someone who cares." _

_Lex let his hand fall from her chin and quickly walked over to the other side of the room. As Chloe watched she let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. She was somewhat disappointed at the loss of close contact with him although she didn't understand why. _

_She noticed Lex was fiddling on her laptop and her curiosity caused her to start over to him._

_He turned around suddenly and grabbed her hand. "What are you doing?" she asked confused._

_Music began to play from her computer, "I'm not going to let you miss your senior dance," He answered as he carefully placed his hand on the small of her back and pulled her close to his chest. _

_She smiled at his song choice. Let it be Me by Ray Lamontagne. It was almost if…as if he was answering her question. She decided she liked the response as she laid her head against his chest as they swayed to the music. Neither of them said a word. Neither of them had to._

Chloe gasped as she felt a hand grab her waste, "Lex" she gasped. Her eyes shot open as she swiftly turned around.

Jimmy stood there smiling. Or at least he had been smiling, until Chloe had mistaken him for…Luthor? Really? She must be more drunk than Lois thought.

"Hi Chloe," He shouted over the music.

"What are you doing her Jimmy?" She shouted back, surprise evident on her face.

"Lois called, she said you were drunk and I should come pick you up to take you home."

"Lois called you?" Chloe looked around despite the fact she knew it was a lost cause locating her cousin in the club.

"Yeah, she said she had to go, something about a date? She asked me to come get you."

Jimmy reached for her harm, but she pulled it away.

"I don't need you to babysit me Jimmy I can take care of myself."

"Chloe, you're drunk come on let's go home."

"No! Look I'll be fine okay? Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself." Before he could object to her demand she turned on her heels leaving her boyfriend lost in the crowd.

"Damn." She thought to herself, "Why can't I just tell him its over?"

she shook her head, somewhat disappointed in her self and still a little disappointed at the fact it was Jimmy that had brought her out of her memories and not, well not someone else. She sat herself down at the bar next to two men who were talking in hushed tones. If she hadn't been so close there was no way she would have been able to hear what they were saying, but alas even when half-drunk she still had her amazing eavesdropping skills and when she heard the name Luthor she couldn't help but be interested. Besides she was sure her boss would appreciate some overtime investigating.

"Did you hear about Luthor? He's back." The first man whispered to his shorter darker man.

"Yeah I heard. Rumor is he's here to make a big deal."

"What kind of deal?"

"No one knows, but it's probably something illegal, knowing that guy. Some people think it has something to do with the reason he left."

"What's the connection?"

"I have no idea, but whatever the story is I'm sure it's big."

Chloe groaned. "What have you gotten yourself into now Lex?" she thought to herself. All of sudden, she was overcome with the strongest urge to go see him.

A/N - Hmmm what could this deal be? any thoughts? Review!


	3. Chapter 3

**IM BACK! its summer...I had no excuse not to finish this story. here is some fluff for now while I continue to write. the more reviews I get the faster i will update I promise. :) CHLEX 4 LIFE. **

_Chapter 3: Damsel in Distress _

_"Come on Lana! All you have to do is run up to the door bell and ring it!" 9 year old Chloe, Lana and Clark stood outside of the giant Luthor Mansion. It had been closed for years. Rumor had it that the Luthors had moved back in this summer, but no one would be able to tell. The shades remained closed and the house looked as it had for years, empty._

_"I don't know Chloe," Lana said unsurely, "My daddy told me to stay away from the Luthors. They are up to no good."_

_"I'll go with you Lana," Clark offered._

_Chloe rolled her eyes, "forget it, I'll do it. You guys are wimps." Before her comrads could convince her otherwise, Chloe ran straight for the front door. Her finger hesitated over the bell, but only for a second. "Ding, dong" the deep loud thronging made her jump. she turned back to her friends and put both hands up in the air smirking as she shrugged. Just then the door behind her opened and a tall stiff yet scary looking man peared down to her._

_"Hello?" He said in a deep drawn out voice. It sounded as if he was quite bored, but to little Chloe it sounded like a fierce giant. For once nothing came out of her mouth so she let her feet do the talking. She ran. But she didn't run back to her friends were they hid behind the bush near the gate, instead she ran around the side of the mansion into a small patch of trees. As she ran she looked behind her to make sure the angry giant wasn't following her until SMACK!_

_At first she thought she had hit a tree, but this was much softer. "Umph" was the sound it made as they both fell to the ground. Chloe slowly cracked one eye open and then the other._

_"hello?" the boy asked. Chloe took a second to look him over. He was wearing expensive clothes, but they were covered in dirt. His stormy blue eyes were wide with surprise, but what was most obvious was his deliberate lack of hair._

_She turned her head to the side, something she did when she was trying to figure something out._

_"are you sick?"_

_The boys eyes widened even more._

_"you're head. You don't have any hair." She clarified._

_Instinctively the boys hand went to his head. He frowned as he replied, "No."_

_She stood up and wiped the dirt off of her arms and pants never once looking away from the bald wonder in front her. He copied her actions, looking skeptically at the little blonde girl before him. Even dirty he looked so…royal she thought._

_Before she could stop herself she blurted out, "are you a prince?"_

_His skeptical expression broke into a large grin. Chloe felt something flutter in her stomache as she looked down and blushed. Something not normal for her._

_"No." he said still smiling at her. "are you a maiden in distress?"_

_"a what?" Chloe asked._

_"a girl who needs to be rescued."_

_She scrunched her nose. But something kept her from scoffing at him._

_"well?" he asked again._

_"Kind of…I, I need help getting out of here."_

_His grin widened. She blushed._

_"come on, I'll show you a way out."_

_He grabbed her hand and began running carefully toward the gate, leaving chloe no choice but to follow._

_Once they got there he stopped "Here you go," He huffed as he caught his breath._

_"thanks…" she wasn't sure what to call him._

_"Alexander."_

_She smiled. 'Prince Alexander,' she thought. "I'm Chloe."_

_"nice to meet you Chloe." He gave a small bow, a smile playing around the corner of his mouth. "I hope you have a safe journey back to where you came from."_

_She giggled and curtsied. "Why thank you kind sir, I will." And with that she ran off to where she knew her friends were waiting. When she looked back though she saw the boy turn away, his smile replaced with a expression of sadness._

_"Chloe! What happened to you?" Clark asked when he saw his friend once again._

_"We were so worried!" Lana added._

_"I'm fine. I told you nothing would happen."_

_"why were you gone so long then?" Clark asked._

_"I, uh, went to explore back behind the house."_

_"Chloe you could have gotten caught!" Lana scolded with her hands on her hips. Chloe merely rolled her eyes._

_"Come on, let's get back to the farm before Mrs. Kent worries." And with that she brushed off the rest of their questions as she skipped back to the farm._

Chloe stood outside the mansion. She had driven here last night straight from the club. She hadn't been completely drunk, but she must have been out of her mind. She had spent the night sleeping in her car outside the gate and now that she was awake she realized this was a huge mistake.

"What was I thinking." She huffed as she began pacing, with one hand on her hip and one on her forehead.

"What if he's not home! I mean haha," she laughed nervously "…what if he is…." She stopped her pacing and faced the gate in terror. Lex was on the other side of this gate. After three years, she had received no letters, no phone calls, no messages from him. The only thing she knew about him was what was published in the tabloids which she preferred to stay far away from. Not just because she worked for a very credible newspaper, but because she secretly didn't want to know how well Lex was doing without her in Europe while she suffered through her life in Metropolis, which seemed if it was never going to meet the huge expectations she had made while living in smallville. He had made no attempt to contact her when he returned. What gave her the audacity to show up here now?

"this is nuts." She thought, "I'm going home." Just as she was about to get back into her car two large men came walking down the driveway toward the gate.

"HEY YOU!" the first one shouted, "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?"

She whipped around and on instinct took off running, but not before the taller one opened the gate and took off after her. It wasn't more than a few seconds that her caught up to her and grabbed her by the arms.

"LEMME GO!" Chloe fought to be free.

"Not so fast blondie. You're coming with me!" with that he dragged the struggling reporter up the driveway and into the mansion.

A tall regal looking gentlemen in a suit approached the two. "what is this?" Chloe's head shot up in recognition of the voice. "Lawrence!" she cried.

The old butler smiled. "Ms. Sullivan. How nice to see you. Gentlemen that will be all." The two body guards reluctantly let go of Chloe and walked away.

"I'm sorry for those buffoons; they think everyone to be a threat. Would you care for some coffee perhaps?" He asked apologetically.

Chloe smiled as she rubbed her arms from where the guys had held her. "You always knew how to make me feel better!" Lawrence laughed as he led her to the kitchen. Chloe glanced around noticing the slight changes to the building. Some of the paintings had been replaced and there were flowers everywhere. It gave the gloomy castle a lighter feel. But all in all the place looked the same. (which made her remember)

"Miss Sullivan?"

"hmm, what?" she hadn't realized Lawrence was talking to her.

"I asked what brought you back to Smallville?"

"Oh. I, I am here for work." She stammered as he handed her the cup of coffee he had prepared for her. "Thanks," she whispered as she kept her head down blowing into her drink.

"May I ask what lead you here?" He asked skeptically.

"Just, thought I would stop by? I mean. I heard that Luthor was back. Just thought I might, ya know just see for myself?"

"I see." Answered the butler.

"So…How is he?"

Lawrence gave her a sad smile, "The same. But different."

She nodded. "Is he here?"

He shook his head, "No, he went to Metropolis this morning for business, he'll be back tomorrow."

Chloe rolled her eyes, "Just my luck." She muttered.

"LAWRENCE!" a woman's voice cried from closely outside the kitchen.

"Lawrence! Oh!" The woman stopped short when she entered the room to find a pretty blonde woman and Lex's butler sitting at the table. Upon her entrance, the butler rose from his chair and bowed slightly.

"How may I be of service miss?" He asked professionally. Chloe just sat there confused and couldn't help but feeling slightly awkward. This woman was tall, brunette, and curvy. But something was different about her than the rest of Lex's one night stands and temporary arm candy. She spoke with a slight British accent that was beginning to wane due to her time spent abroad and away from her home country. She stood tall with an air of superiority and intelligence. Yes she was unlike any normal Luthor woman. She wasn't confident in her looks, though she radiated beauty. Her confidence stemmed from an air of authority, almost as if she belonged right where she was while making Chloe feel the exact opposite and the fiery blonde found it a little intimidating.

"You could start by telling me who this," she answered slowly yet authoritatively.

"Oh," Chloe stood, "My name is Chloe Sullivan, I'm a reporter for the Daily Planet…and a old friendly…acquaintance with the Luthor Family." She added the last part when she noticed the woman's eyebrows rise in horror upon learning she was a reporter.

"I see." She answered simply.

"And you are?"

The woman smirked. "How rude of me, I'm Rosalie Chambers a guest at the Luthor Mansion. Now if you excuse me I must steal Lawrence from you."

The butler nodded and walked past the woman into the hall.

"Nice to meet you miss Sullivan, feel free to show yourself out." And with that she walked briskly away.

Chloe sat there blinking for a minute. "Wow" she thought. "okay." She got up, placed her cup in the sink and walked quickly to the front door and out of the house. She didn't look back till she reached the car, which she slid into and began to drive away.

"What was that!" she exclaimed. "Who does that woman think she is?" after driving aimlessly through smallville trying to sort through the events of the morning in her head she pulled up to her old house and stepped out. She hadn't been here since her Father's funeral right before she left Smallville. That day she had packed up all of her belongings and left for Metropolis. Lana had been living here until recent wedding planning caused her to relocate herself to the Kent farm, so the house was empty.

Chloe tried her key in the door and it still worked. She walked in collapsed on the couch and closed her eyes.

She slept for longer than she planned to for when she awoke it was dark outside. She figured she would drive down to the Talon to get dinner, but as she sat there with a splitting headache she decided to order in for the evening. As she sat waiting for her food to arrive her phone began to ring. She looked at the caller ID and groaned at what she saw. Jimmy.

She answered on the last ring, "hello?"

"Hey Chloe! Are you okay? I came by your apartment today and you didn't answer. Where are you?"

Chloe gripped her forehead with her hand as she bent over, "I'm fine Jimmy. I'm in smallville, working."

"Oh. Hey Chloe, I'm sorry about last night. I was just really worried about you and didn't want you to hurt yourself. I didn't mean to come off as over protective. I just don't know what I would do if I lost you. I love you."

Chloe forced herself to swallow. "Thanks Jimmy. I'm sorry I went off on you, I shouldn't have done that. Forgiven?"

He laughed, "forgotten! So what are you working on?"

"uh the luthor story."

"I thought you sent Lois to get that story?"

"yeah and she got nothing so I came myself."

"Oh, how long will you be there?"

"Probably the whole weekend Jimmy."

"what if I come down and stay with you!"

"No, jimmy you don't have to I-,"

"No! Chloe it will be great I promise. It will give us some time together and ease all this tension. I promise you won't regret it!"

"Jimmy-"

"I'm not gonna let you say no Chlo! I will see you tomorrow k? Sleep tight babe, I love you!"

She sighed in defeat, "Yeah okay. Bye."

She layed her head back on the couch after she hung up. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

**OoOo...who is Rosalie Chambers and why is she at the luthor mansion? Review Please! Tell me what you think is going to happen! who knows may show up in the story. **


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